This is
sort of a review of the (relatively) new film, Spotlight. Go see it (or wait for it in some other format, it
doesn’t need to be seen on the big screen to be appreciated). I expect it to
have more than a few nominations when it comes to awards season. That, however,
is NOT why I’m writing this review.
The
movie is the story of the Boston Globe’s
coverage of the sex abuse scandal in the archdiocese of Boston. Although the
abuse went back decades, the story itself plays out during 2001-02. The best
journalism-based movie since All the
President’s Men, with lots of good character actors, many recognizable from
popular television shows, Spotlight is
a compelling story that does a fine job of showing the nuts and bolts of
investigative journalism, as well as clearly demonstrating the importance of
those nuts and bolts. Finally, and most important in my view, the movie should
sound an alarm.
That is
my main point in writing this. The precipitous decline of print journalism, of
the daily newspaper (and news magazine, RIP Newsweek)
, almost ensures that we may never see this kind of reporting again. With print
journalism being either a small “profit center” of a larger media conglomerate
or a fragile independent entity that has almost no chance of remaining
economically viable, stories like this will be more likely to stay in the
shadows.
That
worries me. I’m a dinosaur who continues to subscribe to my daily paper, at
least in part because I think it’s important. There aren’t enough of us to
sustain what Post-Dispatch columnist
Bill McClellan calls the “buggy whip factory.” I fear the print journalism industry
has long-since reached critical mass, with declining readership requiring more
cuts, resulting in skimpier product, resulting in even fewer readers and more cuts.
Add to
that the seemingly increasing need of people to live in echo chambers, to only
see and hear what they already believe. Disagree with an editorial position?
Cancel the subscription. See an article critical of a pet politician or cause?
Cancel the subscription. Think the paper has it in for people like you? Use
that confirmation bias to cancel your subscription. Why entertain contrary
points of view when you can limit yourself to Fox News or MSNBC?
But we
all lose. As creepy as the Catholic Church abuse scandal was, it needed to be
covered. That story needed resources (think reporters, time, and money)
dedicated to unveiling the layers of secrecy. But that story, in and of itself,
is not the point. The point is, there are more stories, at least equally
important, out there, stories that remain shrouded because there is no more
newspaper willing or able to help us see what’s behind the curtain. Instead
we’re left with agenda-driven bloggers with questionable ethics and
objectivity. As a former journalism teacher, this frightens me in terms of the
future of information in this country.
Whenever
and however you see it, take the time to view Spotlight so that you at least remember what you’re missing.
